Paris is an architectural gem a cultural mecca of art Food and people all of which makes the City of Lights one of the world's most visited destinations From its many manicured gardens to cafe after cafe of tree-lined streets Paris has an energy and vibe unlike any other city You can easily get lost in one of its many prized museums or spend an entire day shopping down The famed shelf sale is a whatever it is you choose Paris has a little bit of something for everyone Paris's story is a diverse one made up of many ethnicities that have shaped the city into what it is today One of the best ways to explore the city is to taste it foods a universal language that brings people together It tells a story of people and culture. So with food as my compass I'm stepping away from the tourist lines and I'm going straight to where the Parisians live eat and play Paris is divided into 20 districts or R&D Smaltz and my favorite is truck Adaro in the 16th My favorite pastry is the pan o chocolat a buttery flaky piece of perfection filled with dark chocolate Legend actually has it that marie antoinette introduced this sweet little roll to france Whether that's true or not, there is no sweeter way to start the day and maybe even taste a little bit of history a Lot of times people ask me what's different about friends and let's say Italy well in France is all about the bakery in the pastry The patisserie in Italy it's all about the food. The pasta is the prosciutto and the meats So here the food the pastry is just spectacular You have this incredible flaky Pastry goodness with just this buttery dough that's been turned like at least eight times over multiple hours Look at that Incredible, you know a dough is good when it bites you Mmm and The absolute best part about coming to Cafe du trocadéro other than the cafe au lait other than the pain au chocolat other than of course all is a picture-perfect money shot of the Eiffel Tower We are at Pont Alexandre the third which is of course a very famous bridge that you see in many movies Than feature Paris. It's just striking with the beautiful black lanterns the gold Statues and then of course Napoleon's tomb I believe For my next stop I decided to check out the hood part cafe part coffee house This eclectic local hotspot is a community space for creativity The hood is yours is their motto No prejudices just love and smiles. And that's exactly how I felt within my first five minutes I met at least half a dozen people Customers and staff or should I say family and they were more than eager to welcome me into this creative space It wasn't long after my arrival that I met Conley Chef and co-owner of the hood who quickly put me to work and show me exactly what the hood is all about Okay, so the menu is petit is very Asian Fusion, okay, because I'm Vietnamese. Well, I was born in France So all the put the dishes inspired by my Vietnamese roots, so we have this very, you know Typical street food item it is called Abed me suggest a Vietnamese sandwich We do everything in-house taking the house here from the curry paste red chilli sauce To the yeah, everything we prepared everything Wow pickle even better. I love anything pickled. Yeah We pickled everything you're here sir. Good Okay, so we're putting on my fighting beer now Excellent my culinary skills So this is a vegan mayonnaise. Okay made with soy tofu. Oh wow Okay, okay as silk tofu, so we put just salad. Okay. So again excel at what makes it yellow Turmeric American lemon. Yes. I don't think it's flavors because Debenham E is the street item, but it's supposed to be very very flavored Okay, so we have a regular lettuce lettuce. We lettuce cucumber cucumber carrot Okay Chicken one so with the chicken is cooked in coconut milk and dill. Does that look good? Hey deels wonderful Yeah, it was you know I goes very well with chicken and coconut actually this chicken and then coriander So we leave the whole coriander coriander. Yes Because it's the stem. I think always has a lot of flavor exactly That's the most flavor and the Mayans and immense and that's it. Fantastic a little bit of black sesame And that's it gorgeous just like take it away Bond me is a classic Vietnamese Street food invented in the 1950s This delicious little sandwich is a baguette filled with savory meats and vegetables Now you might be wondering Baguette and Vietnamese, the baguette was introduced to Vietnam in the mid 19th century when Vietnam was part of French, Indochina Becoming a mainstay in the early 20th century and later making its way of course to the u.s following the Vietnam War a new hires Great well done. I can handle those Oh Show off look at that if they even dotted the hard As for coffee The French are just as serious a little art mostly science I got a quick education from floral in how to make the perfect cappuccino and it all begins with the beans Oh so you weigh the After the beans are ground, they're weighed precisely to seventeen point five grams. Yes, so we try to be consistent okay, a simple gentle tap and twist pack the espresso and into the machine at went but only for 32 to 34 seconds any longer and the espresso will be bitter any shorter to acidic steam the milk Try your hand at foam art and you have the perfect cappuccino From bond me to cappuccinos my experience the hood would not be complete without a slice of their famous Pandan cake and I decided to enjoy a bite with hood regular and expat Pandan - the Asian world is what vanilla is - the Western world the long vibrant green leaves yield a taste that is unique and difficult to nail down but It is somewhere between coconut citrus and a nutty flavor think lemongrass The hood is really the first place who brought it to Paris as an ingredient used in Cooking and now we've transformed it into this cake. I say you are The chef and the owner They brought this to Paris and it's really incredible It's really the only place you can find out. If it's a pendant that gives the cake this beautiful rich emerald color actually Yeah, and it's like a chiffon cake. So it has that great like sponge texture that you Can't find anywhere else. I love chiffon in America. We say chiffon But she fallen sounds so much better. Yeah, I love it and look at the jiggle of the cake, you know The cake is good when it has a little jiggle. Let's give this a try ladies first It's my 12th or 13th pack oh, yes Wow, I'm intro so light and sugary and delicious and moist Mmm, so For those of you that have not had a chiffon cake It taste somewhere between like an angel food cake and the sponge cake and a vanilla cake. It's so Good. This is gonna be something I'm gonna make back home for sure. I Just have to find the pandan. You just have to find my fat man. Hmm I was telling pearl and Conley that I could just sit inside All day all afternoon like you are yeah on the computer having a cup of coffee having lunch It's really cool. Just that living room vibe like with the stairs. No the couch I'm on my way to the first Rd small and when you're halfway across town take the metro It's easy and it's always an experience Now the Louvre Rivoli station is about as much museum as I need But if you have your heart set on seeing the Mona Lisa, here's how to do it in under 30 minutes The tip is this if you're going to go to the Louvre Try to go first thing in the morning or towards the end of the day when they close because you can completely avoid the lines especially if you come during tourist season, however I'm going to show you if you're not that much of a museum person how to get in and get out Seeing the most important work of art in there the Mona Lisa If you do the Louvre or you don't do the Louvre One of my favorite things to do when I come to this area to the Louvre is to the cafe Marly look FA Marly for an incredible view killer cocktails and Just to relax and take it all in Inspired by all this art I've worked up an appetite So I'm on my way to check out Frenchy wine bar for some wine cheese and tapas Down an unassuming alley you'll find Frenchy wine bar Whitewashed stone walls and low-hanging dark beams set the ambiance for this small But elegant space I was greeted by Francois who took me on a culinary journey of my own Beginning with a crisp and refreshing champagne a Sully Souls brute from John Mark select 50% Chardonnay 40% Pinot Noir and the rest Pinot Meunier a little pear a little apple and a little earth It was a perfect start. I like it. I'm very picky with champagne. This is really really good So I think you one more I think I would take more The slogan at Frenchy is everything I want to eat everything and that is exactly what we did beginning with the most creamy and savory foie gras I have ever had figs and crispy lard own added to the complexity of the dish and it was a perfect match with the 2012 white Burgundy from Jean Philippe de chelly. Okay, Sante and Then it was on to a rich smoky pork terrine a little fat a little bacon wrap some prune chutney watercress and mustard seeds all bade this terrine one of my absolute favorites a Terrine is basically a composition of meat molded in Like a bread pan or a loaf pan So gazpacho I was then surprised by a green grape gazpacho made of grapes Cucumber almonds olive oil bread and a little milk finished with roasted almonds burrata Basil and mint this delicious soup hit the spot So we try another wine with for our next wine We move from Burgundy to the Loire Valley to try gorsh of ernie by Michel Jean da Really good. This one is really clean refresh. We crispy fantastic flavor Exactly, excellent a 20 we have every time for different kind of cheese next I got a crash course in cheese I was surprised to learn that all the cheese's at Frenchie wine bar from the UK Which I found not only cool but quite avant-garde considering I was in the cheese capital of the world. I tried four different cheeses goat Sin gems a sheep milk soft and creamy cheddar and a Stilton blue Not too dry not too creamy all served with apple chutney mustard seeds, honey And a Morello cherries a sour cherry It's not fair that I live in the States and probably can't get this no, ha Although I love red wine with cheese. I found out that is a big no-no You must always drink white wine with cheese Moving from the Loire Valley We now headed to the northern part of the Rhone Valley to try a white crows armitage or something like that a combination of two white grapes grown there the Marcin Which is 90% of the bottle and ruse on 10% I get a very earthy Yeah, earthy tone to the white which is pretty typical for Rome but lighter, yeah Yeah, finally the real I 21 You have a little bit of freshness at the end all to be more mineral to a well-balanced sometimes no at the beginning It's a little bit. You can feel it on the one body It's a little bit heavy why it's a track that finally at the end. It's more fresh and it's so enjoyable to run wine fabulous and the coup de Gras was dessert a deconstructed pavlova meringue fromage blanc vanilla strawberries melon, basil and watermelon ice cream Unbelievable good and the best part is not just the flavor. But what I like about it is it's light. Oh This is a dessert You do not feel guilty eating after a night of cheese and wine and terrines not too sweet. Not too heavy. It's fresh Very mellow, I love it for my last wine pairing This by far was the most interesting a sparkling pink wine back to the Loire Valley From producer Landrum Chartier near the Muscadet area and you will see it's a little bit pink So it's fresh but it's a little bit pretty with strawberries. It's really Beautiful color. Yeah. Well, this has been a fantastic Experience. Yeah, I'm gonna thank the Edina Francois for welcoming me to my job sheet. I love it. Well, thanks a job. Well done Thank you After Frenchie I decided to take a stroll across the way to clearly a place where the locals go for drinks and a little bit more on rue Montorgueil Not a tourist in sight except for me. I was in the heart of Paris trendy local night spot But the night wouldn't be complete without a nightcap back in the 16th or in this month at one of my favorite stops Liske osa Where they serve up a drink that truly lives up to its name vodka passion fruit vanilla syrup and champagne and as sebastian explained it starts with the shot of champagne and then while things get a little dirty and Then you have to think of the passion fruits. Okay, and you have to lick it That's why the cocktails say it's the porn star. Oh It's starting to make sense. Yes Okay, well something Yes like that Excellent, thank you For my morning chocolate fix to serving up bond me from countless wines and tapas I've tasted local Paris a mix of comfort and contrast and all around. It's been illuminating
